


Bitter Truths and Sweet Lies

by Snow_Bells_And_Whistles



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Deceit is an interesting character, I don't think hes evil but I don't think he's all that good either, Lies, Other, Tags May Change, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, added tags are as followed:, comatose character, gashes and cuts, hurt and maybe comfort, let me know if I need to tag anything else, my lack of medical knowledge but i tried ok, people may not be who your think, stab wounds, tags may change tho, thats it for ch 3 i think, they're all amazing which is why they're here, this is a mix of a lot of theories I've seen floating around
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 18:39:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18666121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow_Bells_And_Whistles/pseuds/Snow_Bells_And_Whistles
Summary: When Deceit does something that pretty much made Thomas lose a really important friend, the sides decide they've had enough of his tricks and deceptions. With Thomas incapacitated from what just happened, they decided to go the long way and pay Deceit a little visit.They soon learn, however, that in Deceits corner of the mind, things don't always go according to plan and some truths are better hidden as lies.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> honestly, why not  
> there might be some spelling errors cause there always is

This had gone on long enough. When Deceit had pretended to be Patton to try to convince Thomas to lie to Joan about not coming to their staged reading of a play, it was fine. When Deceit pretended to be Logan, it was forgivable. Heck, even when Deceit had basically forced them to perform the argument on whether he should attend his friend’s wedding or not in a legal setting, it was funny, even if he did prove his point and won the case in the end. What was not forgivable was the fact that he basically caused Thomas to lose the trust and borderline friendship of one of Thomas’s close friends. This obviously sent Thomas into a great distress which resulted in the current situation that was before the four sides.

Thomas was laying on the largest couch in the living room, right in middle of the view his audience would have if he was recording a video. He had been laying there for the past couple hours, tear tracks staining his cheeks starting from his still red eyes. It looked like, at the moment, Thomas wasn’t even spatially here and was probably spacing out; thinking of the moment when it all went wrong. All in all, he was a wreck and the sides, being a part of him and all, could feel every once of misery he was feeling in their own way. 

Patton was obviously crying during the ordeal as he could feel his heart breaking, leaving his with small cuts all over his body. Every word his friend spat at Thomas felt like a vicious punch to Roman as his ego took blow after blow. Logan felt the surge of ‘negative’ neurons and adrenaline as the words kept coming and coming. Virgil would also feel every drop of adrenaline and was borderline hyperventilating during the exchange due to the stress and disbelief due to the situation that was happening before them. It had not been a pretty sight to say the least.

Hours later, they here now, tears long dried, bruises and cuts starting to fade, stress still high but manageable, and neurons traveling about as they should as normal as they could. Yet, there was still this lingering feeling that all five were feeling despite the fight happening hours ago. Thomas was the first to speak. “Guys I’m fine, really. Just…tired.” The other four seemed to disagree. “Thomas, you know for a fact you’re not fine. Don’t feed into him any more than what has already been given.” Roman started, looking to the others to help him. “I have to agree Thomas. Roman and I don’t see eye to eye on many matters, but this is an exception. If you don’t believe it, just have a look at us, especially Roman and Patton,” Logan continued, waiting for Thomas to confirm he was listening, “Although it affected all of us, it affected them the most physically. If you were truly alright at his point, the bruises and cuts that are still on them would have disappeared.” That remark, although true, caused both sides to hide any exposed skin they had. 

Virgil, ever the perceptive one, noticed. “Hey L, maybe phrase that a little nicer next time. They might not be proud of them.” He said, trying to look indifferent. Logan realized his mistake and promptly apologized, knowing that his need to be bluntly honest might not be the best thing right now. Thomas, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care about the things being said. “I know guys, I’m just…really tired. I just wanna go to sleep for a bit okay?” he said to the four, not waiting for their response before turning over on the couch to fall asleep. The four in question all looked at each other before sinking out. 

Once each was back in their respective room, the four took the time to themselves to repair any lingering damage done and relax before coming together in the common area later. Logan was the first once there, ‘chilling’ as the kids would say and waiting for the others to arrive. Patton arrived shortly after, small puppy and kitten band-aids covering some still lingering cuts. Patton noticed him looking at the band-aids and smiled bashfully. “They make me feel bit better Lo.” He explained to the other before sitting down on another couch. Logan hummed in acknowledgement as he watched the moral side sit down. Virgil was the next to show up, hood up and headphones on to ground him. He looked at Logan and Patton and gave each a small nod before sitting down on the other end of Logan’s sofa. Roman was the last to join, skin now clear of bruises. It was clear he used make-up to cover them, but no one said anything to prove it. He sat on the couch with Patton after giving everyone a small smile as if to say he would be fine soon. 

They all sat there in total silence, not knowing what to do, what to say, or how to even start conversation. Patton was the first to speak. “We’re all tired and stressed, so I’ll go make us some tea.” With that, he excused himself to the kitchen to start. After a moment, the silence was broken by Virgil grabbing a nearby pillow and shoved his face into it, sufficiently muffling the screams that quickly followed. Neither Logan nor Roman tried to stop him, instead letting him finish venting his frustrations to the pillow. He only stopped when he felt a hand gently place itself on his shoulder. He looked up from his pillow and saw Patton giving him a reassuring smile.

He put the pillow down on his lap and let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “Sorry. I just needed to get it all out.” Virgil started before feeling the hand on his shoulder give him a gentle squeeze. “Its ok kiddo. Its…been a day. I just wanted to make sure you drank something before exhausting your voice too much.” Patton said as he moved his hand from Virgil’s shoulder to supporting a cup of warm tea. He handed Virgil the beverage and waited until he took a sip before going to take a drink from his own cup, having already given Logan and Romans theirs before going to give Virgil his. They all drank it in an almost serene silence, all relishing in the tranquility in the room before they had to address the elephant in the room. 

“Given the circumstances of what happened, I believe a Socratic seminar like talk would help ease the frustrations I’m sure we all have,” Logan started, not looking up from his cup yet conveying the discontent at one particular side with his voice, “With that, who would like to go first.” The other three stayed silent for a moment before Patton spoke up. “Now I know we’re all a little upset at Deceit but I’m sure he had a good reason?” He tried to sound convincing but the usual cheeriness he emitted was dimmed a bit to say the least, making him sound the opposite. Virgil put his cup down in the coffee table between the couches at that. “Patton buddy, I know you’re trying to see the best in him, and I know you’re trying to convince yourself that he didn’t mean it, but trust me, he meant it.” “I hate to admit it, but New Found Gloomy here has a point.” Roman added while giving Virgil a look of solace. “Indeed,” the logistical side agreed before continuing, “Deceit usually has been an…inconvenience… to say the least at most times whenever there’s a problem that Thomas needs solving, usually disguising himself as one of us so he can, in theory, use our habitual and familiar influence to put his own input in the matter at hand.” Logan stood up from the couch with his now empty cup and collected the other empty cups before turning to go to the kitchen. “However, I must agree with Roman and Virgil on this Patton. Deceit usual tomfoolery has gone to far and more than likely cost Thomas a very good friend.” 

Patton opened his mouth to try to say something but realized he couldn’t really defend what Deceit did when Logan put it that way. He sighed to himself more than anything in defeat. Patton always tries to look for the good in people and hey, it works sometimes. He showed kindness to Virgil and now look at him, he’s part of the group now and works with them all now instead of against them as Thomas says. He even told them his name, his real name for pete's sake. They had gotten so far together as a family. He just wanted the ‘Dark Sides’, as Roman called them, the same kind of family he could give to the others, despite whatever negative aspect of Thomas they represented.  
“Well I’m gonna go talk to him.” Patton said as he picked himself up from the couch with newfound determination. “I know there has to be a reason he did what he did and I’m gonna get to the bottom of it.” This declaration caused all three heads to turn to him, each with varying reactions. Virgil seemed to be wary, if not scared, and hesitant on whether he should say something or not, but the clear disagreement was there. Same for Roman but he looked more worried for Patton over anything since he knew what it was like to feel Deceit toy with your ideals and feeling in order to string you along to his whims and desires. Logan, surprisingly, looked astonished and dumbfounded at what Patton has just said breaking his (usually) calm demeanor. 

Patton, despite the negative reactions given, continued. “I know you guys think he’s a bad guy but he’s not all bad. He’s still a part of Thomas and Thomas is an angel who tries his best. Besides, I know for a fact he doesn’t tell lies just to tell them.” He unknowingly slipped into his disappointed parental voice with each new word he spoke which was funny since he didn’t use it all that often, which spoke how serious Patton was. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but each of us exists to protect and help Thomas, no matter how good or bad we seem at first. Take a look at Virgil for example and I’m really sorry for this Virgil because I know how bad you felt before.” Virgil on the hand, tried to look indifferent but you could still see the smallest hint of regret in his eyes when remembering how he acted before.

Patton still felt a bit bad, but he had a point to prove and when no one usually listens because you’re just the moral side, you take your chances when you can. “Before we got to know Virgil all that well, we just thought he was anxiety. That he was bad and making Thomas’s life harder but then we learned that wasn’t true. He would always make Thomas really anxious and panic sometimes but then we realized how bad it would be if Virgil was gone forever. He was a mess and you all saw that. We had to go to Virgil’s room and convince him to come back because he’s that important, despite looking like the bad guy at first. Now that we know more about him, we know how much he helps Thomas on a daily basis and how important he is. Yes or no.” He asked the three before him and waited until they all shook their heads in agreement. “Then why is Deceit any different. He lies to protect Thomas. He’s an inner coach that acts with the one intention of self-preservation. We all know this. He protects Thomas in his own way and although I don’t approve of it, he does it to protect Thomas.” Patton finished his little speech with a small huff and looked to the others to see how they would respond to it. Neither Virgil nor Roman showed any indication that they were going to answer, even if it was clear they wanted to, and Logan was to busy considering all of what Patton just said to argue back just yet.

With that, Patton started to walk towards the main door of the commons that lead to individual rooms to visit Deceit to get some answers. “Wait!” A voice shouted out and broke the silence, surprising all and stopped Patton in his tracks. Virgil gave a large sigh as he started to stand up from his spot on the couch and beginning to walk towards Patton. “I’m… coming with you.” He said as he scratched the back of his head to avoid the looks, he got from all three. “Are you quite sure Virgil?” Logan asked. “We all know how you’re not quite fond of him.” Virgil nodded in agreement at Logan’s remark. “Yeah, I’m not his biggest fan but I can’t let Patton go on his own. Besides, I wanna know why he hurt Thomas like that. I expect answers.” 

Roman drew attention to himself by practically bouncing off the couch to join the two at the door. “I shall accompany you two too then. What prince would I be if I left my two friends to face him alone.” He announced before saying the rest of his intentions in a much quieter voice. “And I also want to know why too.” That left Logan, who was still sitting down on his spot in the couch, looking at the three at the door while they looked at him. There seemed to be a silent conversation going on between Logan and Patton, the other two noticed, because the moral side and logistical side had yet to break eye contact. It was assumed by the other two that Patton had won when Logan let out a defeated sigh before straightening his tie and going to join the others at the door. Roman and Virgil gave him a surprised look before they shrugged and looked back towards the door that was temporarily stopping them. “You’re absolutely sure you want to do this Patton?” Logan asked. “Positive.”

With that, the door to the other side was opened and Patton pushed through, quickly followed by the others. They heard the door close behind them and knew there was no turning back now. They all trekked through the mindscape, passing each of their rooms before the ‘natural’ light illuminating their path began to darken. This is when they knew they had crossed into the place where Thomas keeps all his negative aspects pushed away. They ventured farther and farther, passing occasional doors that housed some of these aspects. They weren’t here for them however, they were for a particular side, whose little yellow twin-headed snake logo could be seen on a door they were approaching.  
“I have a really bad feeling about this…” Virgil said quietly yet still loud enough for them to hear. Nothing else was said as Patton knocked on the door to the snake’s room, before they all walked in when they realized it was eerily unlocked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't updated in a little over two months  
> I became the very thing I swore to destroy  
> sorry  
> here's another chapter (finally)  
> hope this makes up for it  
> sorry if there's any spelling errors

The first thing they noticed when they opened the door was, curiously, the lack of light. Being a part of Thomas and his normally bright personality, it was weird to be in, essentially, a copy of his house that was in near total darkness. The four stood there in the open doorway for a bit longer than they’d care to admit before the one leading them shook himself out of his surprise and took a few steps into the house.

The second thing they noticed was that Deceit’s room was rather chilly compared to the rest of Thomas’s mind. This, too, was highly unusual for Deceit. Like all the other Dark Sides, Deceit had a more animalistic appearance compared to the Light Sides. Not only that, but they also took on some of the behavior and biological physiology of that animal. This is why only Deceit himself had a habit for hissing out some of his words with the letter ‘s’ in them. The reason his cold room was unusual was because, like his habit for hissing, he also shared the typical reptilian cold bloodiness. What that meant was that Deceit would never willingly let his room get this cold since it would mean he would go into a hibernation-like sleep if he stayed too long, one where it would be near impossible for him to wake up from on his own.

The three followed the moral side inside as they also felt how cold the room was. Logan was the first to speak about it aloud. “Something is wrong. His room is far too cold for him.” It was an obvious thing to point out but having it pointed out seemed to shake them all from their surprise once again. They all continued to walk until they were all standing in the middle of the living room. The uneasy feeling they all had when entering didn’t seem to disappear. On the contrary, it only seemed to escalate. “I really hope Deceit isn’t here right now,” Patton said as he shuddered from the cold, “If we feel a bit chilly I would hate to feel what he’s feeling.” 

“I say it’s what he gets for pulling the stunt he did.” Virgil grumbled as he zipped up his jacket to keep himself as warm as possible. “Before, I agreed with you Virgil but once you’ve checked the temperature, you might have to take that statement back.” Logan informed as he rubbed his hands to warm them. This statement received looks of confusion from both Virgil and now Roman. “What do you mean?” questioned Roman as he too rubbed his hands for warmth. 

“What I mean,” he started, “is that since Deceit shares some physiology with his reptilian appearance, it is likely that the typical cold-bloodiness of them also applies to him. Think of Spiderman with his ability to crawl on walks like a spider and ability to sense danger ahead of time. A similar device may be present for Deceit.” All three listened carefully, except for the spider part for Patton, to what Logan was saying and seemed to understand. “What does that have to do with me taking back what I said though?” Virgil asked after he was done explaining. 

“Snakes are cold-blooded and rely on external sources to heat themselves. If a snake becomes too cold, it will become lethargic and go into a hibernation-like coma,” the logician informed, “however if a snake were to be in the cold too long, it could result in them becoming very ill and in the worst cases, die.” The three listening paled upon hearing the implications of this, with Virgil losing color the most. Despite some sides fighting constantly and having borderline bad blood with one another, deep down, none of them ever wished death upon the other. Even the Dark Sides never thought of this for the others.

“So… what you’re saying is… Deceit could die if he’s here for too long.” Patton pointed out as he was also debating on whether or not he should put on his cardigan. Logan, in exchange, nodded his head in affirmation. “Theoretically I do not think so. His human side is warm-blooded and we, as sides, can not die. However, I do believe he could very easily fall into a mixture of deep hibernation and a comatose like state, leaving him unable to wake very quickly if moved to heat, depending on how long he has been in the cold.” Although this was better news, it still meant that Deceit could be in danger if he was in his room.

“We need to find him then if he’s here.” Patton said as he started to climb the stairs to look in the rooms above. Halfway up, he noticed the lack of footsteps behind him and turned, finding the three still stood in the living room. “Are you guys not coming?” he asked as he slowly took one step down. 

Both Roman and Virgil stayed glued to their spot in the living room while Logan moved a few steps towards Patton before stopping at the foot of the stairs. “Patton, as much as we do not wish harm on Deceit, don’t you find this situation a little suspicious?” Patton was confused. “What do you mean?” Logan looked back to the other two, still standing in their spots before he continued. “After what Deceit did today, it would not be unusual to assume that we would come find him to talk. He likely thought it would happen sooner or later, so he left his room to go somewhere to hide for the time being.”

“Or plan to ambush us with the help of the other dark sides once we did show up.” Roman added from his spot in the room. If Virgil happened to wince at the tone Roman used to address the dark sides, no one noticed and he wasn’t about going to say anything either. Patton thought over their musings. They did make sense and if he was being honest, he wouldn’t put it past Deceit to go find help from the other dark sides if it came down to it. However, he just couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed to go upstairs. Like a voice calling out to him, urging him to go find something he was supposed to find, even if it meant going into the den of a snake. 

The three sides still at the bottom of the stairs watched Patton. Any hopes they had about just leaving seemed to fly out of the window as Patton looked at them with newfound determination in his eyes. “You guys could be right, but I can’t shake this feeling that I have to go find him. Maybe its like that thing that Thomas said once. ‘Two different things can be two sides of the same coin’?” He said the saying more to himself than the others but they still understood nonetheless. As much as they wanted to leave, they couldn’t leave Patton by himself and since he wasn’t going to leave yet, they were staying too. 

The moral side in question continued his thoughts once he solved his little monologue. “Anyway, you guys can stay there if you want. I’m going to go check the rooms upstairs.” Virgil, like before, spoke up before anyone could move. “I can’t let you go up there alone.” With that, he made his way towards the stairs and started climbing, the three sides watching him do so in silence. Patton smiled at Virgil once he was a step behind him, saying a silent ‘thank you’ with his eyes when Virgil looked at him. 

“Well, since we’re not going to be leaving anytime soon, we might as well look for him.” Roman said through a small huff of defeat. Logan nodded. “With you and Virgil checking upstairs, Patton, and Roman and I checking downstairs, I’m sure we’ll find him rather quickly should he actually be here. Once Roman and I finish searching down here, we’ll go up to help you two since there are much more rooms upstairs. Is this adequate for you?” Patton nodded firmly at what Logan was saying. “Alright then,” Logan acknowledged as he left to go search the kitchen for any missing things they may not have noticed, “If one of us finds something unusual, we’ll call you.” With this, the ones on the stairs finished their climb up while the creative side joined his friend in searching the downstairs.

The two downstairs had been searching for no more than an hour before they realized they searched the entire thing. Both found the lack of anything amiss slightly disturbing despite how reassuring it would seem from the outside looking in. True to their word, they went upstairs to help the other two, finding that they were barely halfway done searching. 

“Didn’t find anything?” Virgil asked when he saw the two joining them. “Nothing unusual or out of their ordinary, which is kind is spooky actually.” Roman replied with a shiver, the air seeming to be colder upstairs than down. No one noted it down. They split up again in their teams of two again to cover more ground. Another hour went by and soon, there were only two rooms left: the guest bathroom and the master bedroom. Virgil and Patton had the guest bathroom while Roman and Logan had the master bedroom. 

“Virgil, why don’t you join Logan and Roman. The room is a lot bigger than this bathroom and I’m sure they’ll need the help.” Virgil was hesitant but before he could say anything, Patton looked at him with all the seriousness he could muster. “I have a feeling they’re going to need you.” The two stared at each other for a few moments before Virgil sighed in defeat and told Patton to yell for them if he needed anything. He nodded and watched the other leave and enter the master bedroom. 

Once he entered, the moral side turned back to face the still closed door. He didn’t want to tell Virgil, but the unsettling feeling he had when they first walked in seemed to get worse and worse the longer they searched upstairs. Even when Logan and Roman joined them, the feeling didn’t go away. If anything, it only got worse. He didn’t want to tell Virgil that the real reason why he said he should join the other two was because that unsettling feeling he had was at its peak as he stood outside the bathroom door. He didn’t want to say the reason that he told Virgil to go join the others is because he didn’t want Virgil, or his Fam Ily to see whatever was behind that door without warning first if the feelings he were having were correct.

He took a few moments to prepare himself for whatever he might see, for whatever he might find. He took in a deep breathe and willed himself to stop shaking when he reached out and saw his hand was trembling. Once his hand stopped, he reached out and turned the door knob, opening the door slowly and letting him see what exactly was inside.


	3. Ch 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know some of you if not all of you arent going to read the tags so viewer descretion advised i guess for this chapter
> 
> look at the tags please i updated them for this chapter so if youre sensitive about any of the things listed, read at your own risk  
> please read the tags  
> thank you

“Couldn’t find anything in the bathroom?” commented Logan when he first saw Virgil enter the room. His comment got Romans attention, who was busy looking under the bed when he first walked in. He quickly rechecked under the bed before standing up to look behind the open door where Virgil was standing.

“Where’s Patton?” he asked upon seeing it was just him at the door. Logan too looked behind Virgil to see that he was indeed by himself. Virgil, despite knowing he wasn’t in any trouble or danger, still felt himself get just a little smaller under their eyes.

He rubbed the back of his neck before meeting their eyes. “Pat said that I should join you two since the room is bigger than the bathroom.” He took a quick look around the room and noticed at least a little under half of it was already rummaged and looked through. “Though it looks like you guys don’t really need much help.”

“Yes, I would say that, but I would give it at least another ten or twenty minutes before we finish searching this room. Although it is smaller than Patton thought it is still a time consuming task. I-” Logan stopped, surprising the other two who usually don’t see Logan stop mid-sentence. Logan, instead of finishing his sentence, simply started muttering to himself. 

“Uhh, Logan? You okay there buddy?” asked Roman, not using a nickname for once. The one in question on the other hand, paid them no mind and kept muttering to himself before he stopped just as quickly as he started. He turned to the other two who still stood confused. 

“Virgil,” the logician started, “Patton said that we would need help with this room correct?” Virgil blinked in surprise at the question before he nodded, confirming what Logan was thinking. “to make sure, was he insistent on you helping us?” Again, he got a nod of affirmation.

“Lo, what’s going on?” asked Virgil, who was starting to become unnerved with the questions and how grim Logan was beginning to look. Roman wrapped an arm around him in an effort to comfort and ground him. Grateful, Virgil leaned just the smallest bit into it and gave him a thankful smile. All the while, Logan was putting the pieces together in his brain and forming an answer to his questions.

“We need to go to the bathroom. If I’m correct in my thinking, Patton may very well be in danger.” He stated as he quickly started to head towards the still open door before being stopped when a hand grabbed his arm.

“Whoa whoa whoa.” Roman started as he held onto his arm. “Would you care to explain your thinking to us? If you have an idea where Deceit is, tell us so we know what to expect and how to help.” The two sides stared at each other for only a few moments, but to Virgil, who was practically in between them, it seemed much longer than that.  
Logan glanced at the open door before sighing. “Virgil said that Patton wanted him to help us with the bedroom and was quite insistent on it. At first, I thought that Patton had overestimated how large the room was before I realized that we all have the same space in our respective rooms. No side has a bigger or smaller room than the others. Not I, nor Virgil, and definitely not Patton. I would see no reason for him to send Virgil away to help us, knowing full well how large the rooms are and knowing that we would have had them done in no time.”

Virgil seemed like he was starting to understand what Logan was saying with Roman not quite there yet but he was trying and was still putting the pieces together. Logan continued. “In other words, he would have had no reason to send Virgil to us. Unless he was not Patton.” Both Roman and Virgil’s eyes widened in shock at what Logan was revealing. 

“So what you’re saying…is that we’ve been closer to Deceit then we thought.” Muttered Virgil. He stepped out of Romans embrace and slowly walked towards the bedroom door, stopped, and looked out to the long since closed bathroom door before turning around to Logan. “Why are we still here then and not going to confront Deceit?”

Logan bit his lip before he finished his explanation. “Whether or not he has Patton hidden in that bathroom, we don’t know what traps or deceits he might have planted around. The only thing I don’t understand is if the Patton we’ve been interacting with is actually Deceit, why hasn’t he showed signs of even the slightest fatigue yet. His entire room is still terribly cold and it doesn’t-”

Before Logan could continue his thoughts, a very loud and very Patton scream tore throughout the building, loud enough to cause all three of them to either flinch back or jump at the suddenness of it. There was a moment of shocked stillness before all three ran out of the room and towards the door, even Logan forgoing common sense and reason in favor of going towards the door. Within seconds all three were outside the door, the screams at this points having turned to faint whimpers and cries. Roman brandished his sword, ready to attack whatever was behind the door if need be. Logan reached out to grab the knob before being stopped by Virgil. Both sides looked at him in surprise. He pointed to himself, as if saying to let him handle this. They understood and backed off a bit to let Virgil do whatever it was he wanted to try. With slightly trembling hands, he carefully knocked on the closed door.

“Patton? Are you in there?” A very faint ‘yes’ could be heard through the door before the whimpering continued. Virgil turned to the two behind him before he continued. “Pat, is Deceit in there with you?” More whimpers and soft cries were his only answer for a time before the three heard the answer the dreaded the most.  
“Please…help.”

That was the only thing it took for them to react. As quickly as they could, they opened the door, expecting to see a bruised, beaten, and/or bloody Patton on the bathroom although they still hoped that wasn’t the case.

They suppose they got their wish.

Patton wasn’t beaten or bruised, laying barely conscious on the cold bathroom floor like they hoped. Instead, he was sitting in the ground next the bathtub, holding a body bearing all the things they feared were on Patton. The moral side, in a sense, was bloody although it was clear that it wasn’t his own. Virgil, Roman, and Logan watched horrified as Patton was struggling to get the person out of the tub, blood smearing more on the front of his shirt, staining the sky blue fabric a sick dark color. 

The bathroom smelled metallic and it was clear why. The person Patton was holding was beaten severely. Blood was oozing slowly from the areas where Patton was holding and moving. The bathtub had a mixture of dried and fresh blood, caking one particular side of the tub. His clothes were slashed and torn in places, revealing cuts and gashes that had either barely stopped bleeding, or were bleeding again due to the movement. There were smudges of blood on Patton’s face mixing with the tears that didn’t stop falling from his red tear filled eyes. He still hadn’t stopped trying to lift the person from the tub, face red with exertion along with his lamenting tears. The persons hands were visible but were sporting large bruises on the backs of them along with some joints of the fingers. Where there weren’t bruises, there were cuts. The face of the person was facing downwards and away from them, concealing their identity, although the three still standing shocked in the bathroom door had a sick feeling they knew who it was.

Patton snapped them out of their shock when we turned as far as he could and yelled at them to help him. Logan was the first to act, hurrying to Patton’s side to see how bad the person was damaged. He carefully placed a hand on some exposed skin that wasn’t hurt and flinched back as soon as he touched it. Ice to the touch.

He quickly turned around to Roman and Virgil. “Both of you, I need you to go back to the common room and evacuate the living room of every piece of furniture that would not let us lay him there. Once you’re done, I need you to gather all of the warmest blankets we have and carefully spread them out so it makes a nest-like bundle of sorts. In the meantime, Patton and I will deal with his injuries and move him when ready. Can you do that?” Both sides nodded vigorously before practically running back out to the common rooms.

Once they were out of sight, Logan turned back and laid all the towels that he could on the cold floor to keep the cold at bay. When he was done with that, he kneeled down to help Patton move the body out of the tub and properly treat their wounds. The cold side was heavier than he thought and even with him helping, it took a great deal of effort on both their parts before they were able to lay him on the towels. 

Patton clothing was stained beyond fixing, the blood on them stopped spreading where they could even though the blood was still damp on the cloth. Logan’s clothes were beginning to stain but were no where near the way Patrons were. The side on the ground however, was the worst. The cape that was normally around his shoulders was no where to be seen, exposing the shirt underneath and all other damage hidden to Logan eyes. 

With the serpentine side now laying on his back, it was clear to see how his chest and torso took much of the initial damage to his person. His normally dark plum colored shirt was stained brown and flaking in some places while the fresh blood were making the clothes sticky again in others. Where the shirt wasn’t blood-soaked, it was cut or tattered revealing even more gashes and the occasional stab wound. It was obvious that whoever did this, inflicted as many painful wounds as they could before he could properly bleed out and ‘die’ in a way.

Logan felt sick. As a the side that pertained to Logic and reasoning, not many things ever really bothered or scared his. This was an exception. Although they couldn’t truly die due to them not being real people, just personified metaphysical human beings representing certain characteristics and/or traits, they can still be damaged enough to be ‘out of commission’ as some people say and just…not exist for a period of time. Fortunately for them, the side in question still had a physical body, which meant that he wasn’t as far gone as he could have been considering his wounds.

Logan steeled himself and turned to see how Patton was faring. Patton still had his red eyes and he now had tear tracks clear on his face, but he seemed to have calmed down a bit since he had managed to get the others’ help. His breathing had slowed down to as normal a pace one could get in a situation like this. He stared at the body in wistful silence, as if he wishes he could do something more for him. 

The logician inhaled and turned back to the body, steadying himself for whatever he might have to do. Together, they carefully removed whatever fabric remained of the shirt and threw it away. Then, they set to work. While Logan was carefully washing the side of any dried blood or filth that was clinging to the side, Patton looked through the med kit they had in every sides room, took all the things they would need, and conjured up anything else they might need. Patton set the supplies aside and helped Logan with cleaning the rest of any remaining blood before they could fully access the state of the wounds. 

Although the body was free of old blood or other filth, the freshly moved cuts still bled just the slightest. They cleaned the body in the areas necessary before they started to properly treat him. They stitched the stab wounds and gashes as carefully as they could and treated the smaller cuts before doing one last cleaning and gently wrapping his chest in gauze. The shoulders that were still exposed were missing scales in some places, showing how precise and great his pain must have been. 

They had been working in solemn silence until they had treated all the wound as best they could. When they saw that they couldn’t do anything more, they carefully sat up and slowly put the remaining supplies away and cleaned up where they could. As Patton was finishing up doing what he was doing, Logan, bizarrely, conjured up a stretcher like device. 

“Logan?” He only needed the one word for Logan to understand what Patton was asking. 

“It is important that we move him as little as possible. Realistically, we shouldn’t be moving him at all, but staying in this cold could prove to be even more detrimental for him than it already is. We just need to get him out of his room as fast as possible without disturbing him much.” He explained as he looked too see the best way to move him to the stretcher. 

“Shouldn’t we carefully roll him on? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?” Patton questioned as he kneeled down next to the serpentine figure. 

Logan blinked. He had actually forgot about that. “Uhh yes actually. That is what you’re supposed to do. Thank you Patton.” He sat down next to Patton and proceeded to explain how to best roll him without disturbing the stitches. After some deliberation, they carefully tolled him until the side was now safely on the stretcher. Both sighed in relief when nothing happened. “Alright. On the count of three Patton, we lift him up and then begin the task of walking back to the common room. Virgil and Roman should be finishing up if they’re not already done by now.”

Patton nodded and went to one end while Logan went to the other. Together on the count of three, the lifted the side up on the stretcher. When both had a good grip, they started walking. Slowly, yet surely, they managed to walk out of the bathroom, down the stairs, and out of Deceit’s room. It was silent on their way back to the common room and Patton couldn’t help but look around since Logan was in front, leading them forward. He looked at the others’ rooms, dark and light sides respectively, looking at the logos on the door with each one they passed. As they were getting close to the common room, he turned back to the see side they were carrying. Heterochromia eyes shut. Scales on the side of his face either scratched or missing. Chest rising and falling so slowly you wouldn’t even believe he was breathing at all. He felt a mix of emotions and couldn’t help the question that that was bouncing around his head and bouncing around the other sides’ head:

‘Deceit, what on earth happened to you?’


End file.
